Body encircling article



Nov. 13, 1951 v WILBUR 2,574,678

BODY ENCIRCLING ARTICLE Filed Jan. 28, 1947 INVENTOR. R UTH N. W/LBUR A T TORNE V Patented Nov. 13, 1951 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE BODY ENCIRCLING ARTI CLE Ruth N. Wilbur, New York, N. Y.

Application January 28, 1947, Serial No. 724,811

I 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to an article that may be Worn on a member of the body to encircle it, such as a belt or a cuff.

The article of wear of the present-invention comprises two parts which may be detachably secured together at their ends so that it may be worn on the bodyin a plurality of combinations. Each part may be interchanged with the other part or with similar parts of another article of wear, thereby providing a variety of different appearances on the wearer.

' A belt according to the present invention is constructed and designed to give to the wearer thereof a slim waistline and sleek figure, holding in unsightly bulges very often found in the female figure and formed by the other garments Worn and to which my belt is applied.

A similar construction may also be used as a cuff to be detachably worn on the wrist so that a plurality of differing appearances may also be had with the same cuffs or with the corresponding parts of a plurality of cuffs embodying my invention. I

These, other and further objects and advantages of the present invention will be clear from the following description and the drawing appended thereto, in which Fig. 1 is a side view of an article of wear, embodying my invention such as a belt, shown on the torso;

Fig.2 is a front view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a side view of the article of wear of Fig. 1, the parts comprising the belt being reversed on the torso;

Fig. 4 is a front view thereof;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of one of the parts comprising the belt of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the other of the parts comprising the belt of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a side View of an article of wear, embodying my invention such as a culf, shown on the wrist;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of one of the parts comprising the cuff of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the other part comprising the cuif of Fig. 7. v

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 6, the article of Wear, here embodied in a belt, comprises the part I0, which in Fig. 1 is positioned at the front of the torso and the part I2, which in the same figure is positioned at the rear of the torso.

The parts 10 and I2 may be made of any material, such as felt, suede, metallic cloth, leather, or the like, that suits the fancy of the wearer.

In order to give to the article of wear that flexibility for change of appearance now possible because of my invention, I prefer to make each face of a part comprising my article of a differently colored material preferably secured together as by the stitching l4.

Thus, the face H5 at the front of Fig. 1, may be colored green and the other face I8 (illustrated in Fig. 6), black. The face 20 of part I2 illustrated at the outside of the rear of Fig. 1 may be colored black and the other face 22 of that part (illustrated in Fig. 3) may be colored red. It will of course be understood that these colors may be changed as desired.

The upper edge 24 of the part [0 is substantially straight from one corner 26 to the other corner 28 of the part II], though it will be understood that if desired this upper edge 24 may be made curved.

I have found that a somewhat curvilinear upper edge 24 merges into the line of the figure of the wearer somewhat better than a straight edge.

The lower edge 30 of the part [0 curves downwardly from the corners 26 and 28 to thereby form the part Ill into the segment of a circle or a slight crescent.

The upper edge 32 of the other part I2 of my belt is preferably curved inwardly from the corner 34 to the corner 36 of that part. I prefer to curve the upper edge 32 of the part [2 to a greater extent than the upper edge 24 of the part In would be if curved, though it will be understood that the upper edge 32 may be straight.

The lower edge 38 of the part I2 is curved downwardly from the ends 34 and 36 of that part, preferably to a greater extent than the edge 30 of the part I0 is downwardly curved. The part [2 is thus made into a preferably crescent form that is somewhat longer than the part l0. It will be understood of course that the parts l0 and I2, if desired, may be of exactly the same shape.

The parts Ill and I2 are detachably secured together at their corners 26 and 28 and 34 and 36 by any suitable means such as the snap fasten ers illustrated. For purposes of illustration, the stud 40 of the snap fastener is illustrated as secured to the part II] and the socket or stud receiving part 42 is illustrated as secured to the part l2.

It will be understood of course that any other securing means may be used such as a button and button hole, hook and eye or the like.

The belt embodying my invention may be worn by positioning the part I0 at the front of the torso with the edge 24 near the waistline at the lower side of the part and the edge 30 above the waistline pointing upward. This part [0 is detachably connected to the part l2 which is positioned at the rear of the torso, with the edge 32 pointing upwardly and the edge 38 below the waistline at the lower side of that part.

A two tone effect is thus provided, for example the front half of the belt being green and the back part of the belt being black, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

Due to the shape of the parts, the front of the belt merges into the outline of the front of the torso below the bust, generally holding in the abdomen and preventing any unnatural bulges formed by the body and clothes of the wearer, and the back part of the belt also merges into the outline of the figure as that part is positioned above and on the hips.

If it is desired to use the same belt and give to it a different effect, the front part may be reversed on the wearer so that the curvilinear edge 30 points downwardly below the waist and the part [2 also reversed so that the curvilinear edge 38 points upwardly above the waist. Thus, the two tone effect is again provided, for example, the front of the belt being black and the back of the belt being red.

It will, of course be understood that fabrics of many other different colors may be used to make the parts of my belt and that the front and back parts of different belts may also be substituted for one another thereby giving a variety and flexibility of appearance not heretofore possible with conventional belts. Further, the parts that comprise my novel belt may be chosen to correspond to and blend with the shade of the wearers dress.

I have also applied my invention to another article of wear such as a cuff, the embodiment of which is illustrated in Figs. 7 to- 9, reference to which is now made. The cuff comprises the two parts 39 and ll, which are secured together on the wrist of the wearer by any suitable means, such as the snap fastener illustrated.

The part 39 ismade from two materials which are sewn together by the stitching 44, the face 46 being one color, such as red and the other face (not shown) being of the same or a different color, and the part 4| also made from two materials which are sewn together by the stitching 48, the face 50 being brown and the other face (not shown) being of the same or a different color.

Referring toFig. 8, part 39, comprising the upper preferably straight edge 52 and the lower curved edge 54 which edges are joined by the downwardly extending side edges 56 and 58, the latter edges 56 and 58 in effect continuing into and merging with the curved edge 54 so that the part 39 is in effect similarto the part In by having an upper straight edge and a downwardly curved lower edge.

The part 4| (Fig. 9) is similarly shaped and comprises the upper preferably curved edge 60 and-the lower curved edge 62, which edges also are joined by the downwardly extending side edges 64 and 66 which likewise continue into and merge with the curved edge 62.

Referring now to Fig. '7, the parts 39 and 4[ are joined together on the wrist of the wearer by any suitable means such as the snap fastener having the stud 68 secured to the part 4| at the upper corners thereof and the socket or stud receiving part secured to the part 39 at the upper corners thereof. As illustrated in Fig. 7, the curved edges 54 and 62 may both point in the same direction, here toward the hand, although it will be understood, that if desired, either curved edge may point upwardly toward the arm and the other curved edge downwardly toward the hand.

It will thus be seen that an article of wear according to my invention may be either a belt or a cufi encircling a member of the body to enhance the appearance of the dress of the wearer and merge with and properly confine the members of the figure of the wearer.

It will be further recognized that the parts of different belts and cuffs according to my inven- 4 tion, may be interchanged with corresponding parts of other belts and cuffs to give a flexibility of appearance not heretofore possible.

While I have described my invention in preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications may be made and that no limitations upon the invention are intended other than are imposed by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A belt to be worn around the waist and comprising two elongated members, each member having two edges which intersect to form opposite corners, one edge being a substantially straight edge extending from one corner of the member to the opposite corner thereof and the other edge being a curvilinear edge extending from the first mentioned corner to the second mentioned corner away from the substantially straight edge and means at each corner of one member cooperating with means at the corners of the other member to separably fasten the members together to form a belt around the waist, the curved edge of one member and the substantially straight edge of the other member constituting one edge of the belt and the substantially straight edge of the first mentioned member and the curved edge of the second member constituting the other edge of the belt.

2. The belt of claim 1, each of the two members having an outer and an inner face of contrasting colors whereby upon securing the members together, the belt on the waist is of one color at one part thereof and formed by the outer face of the first mentioned member and a different color on the waist at another part thereof and formed by the inner face of the second mentioned member.

3. An article of wear comprising two elongated members, each member having two edges which intersect to form opposite corners, a first edge being a substantially straight edge extending from one corner of the member to .the opposite corner thereof and a secondedge curving down from each corner and away from the first edge, and fastening means at each corner of each member for detachably securing together said members at the corners thereof to form upon sesuring the members together a continuous encircling article having an upper and a lower edge, the second edge of the first member pointing in a direction opposite to that direction in which the second edge of the second member points, the first edge of each member being substantially parallel to the other, the second edge of thefirst member and the first edge of the second member constituting one edge of the continuous encircling article and the first edge of the first member and the second edge of the second member constituting the other edge of the continuous encircling article RUTH N. WILBUR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 108,676 Bemis et al Oct. 25, 1870 429,910 Hellenberg June 10, 1890 494,613 Williams Apr. 4, 1893 501,300 Scheuer July 11, 1893 630,045 Gaisman Aug. 1, 1899 730,050 Sanders 1 June 2, 1903 2,263,838 Ermisch Nov. 25, 1941 

